Power, speed and performance – those are the three major traits of a muscle car. When first produced, muscle cars were just pretty darn amazing because they combined the efficiency of a lightweight, mid-sized body with the performance of a high- power V8 engine and special design features that further increased the cars? acceleration capabilities. Because muscle cars topped all other vehicles in terms of power, speed and performance, they were ideal for racing.

Muscle cars were produced from the mid-1960s into the early 1970s, but the production of such beasts fell drastically due to a number of factors. First was the controversy over whether it was wise and responsible to make such powerful vehicles available to the general public, primarily due to road racing. Because muscle cars were often used irresponsibly, liability relating to them was pretty high which forced insurance companies to increase rates for insuring muscle cars. Emission control requirements intended to curb pollution also played into the picture making it near impossible for automakers to produce muscle cars that met the standards they had to adhere to.

Needless to say, the muscle car industry changed quickly due to these influences. Demand decreased because many ?would-be? buyers of muscle cars couldn?t fathom paying the enormous insurance rates for a high-power vehicle and automakers had to meet the challenges presented by pollution control standards.

Since muscle cars were produced for a limited number of years, they are valuable items for collectors and are still highly desirable to those who enjoy racing or desire a quick, powerful, mid-sized car. Since the decline in the production of muscle cars, some automakers have attempted to bring the muscle car era back to life by producing powerful vehicles that resemble the legendary muscle cars, but in my opinion, they don?t hold a candle to classic muscle cars like the GTO, the Road Runner or the Chevelle SS.

It will be interesting to see how the history of muscle cars plays out. Will present day automakers renew production of true muscle cars that are fast and powerful? Will there be enough demand to make muscle car production worth it to them? Or, will muscle cars continue to be limited to those classic models that were produced in the 60s and 70s?

Classic muscle cars are pretty amazing pieces of machinery. One that is restored and in cherry condition is really worth a lot of money. As time goes on, there are fewer muscle cars available which makes them even more valuable to classic car collectors and muscle car enthusiasts.

Express your Pets Personality Through Creative Art
Anthony Palmieri
12f0 The digital evolution in the graphics art industry continues to expand the capabilities for even the home user. By spending a little bit of money on graphics programs, and a computer, coupled with a bit of creativity, you can turn your digital pictures into much more than just photographs. This evolution has enabled people to express their personality into family pictures as well as other loves such as cars, and pets.

People find many ways to express their personality, whether it is through sports, music, art, or another outlet. In any case the creative nature that we have comes to the surface once we have the tools and have developed ability to accomplish this. One area that has continued to grow as a result of technological advancement is with computer enhanced graphics. Faster home computers coupled with programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator have taken the high end graphics work once limited to corporations to smaller businesses. The most basic photo manipulation is to correct flaws in the picture, which can be expanded to the more advanced creation of fantasy scenes, such as overlaying multiple images and the addition of special effects.

These changes have enabled businesses to start in the areas of custom portrait and pet photography, to wildlife and even automotive areas. Turn on your television and I am sure that you will find numerous dog shows. The market has continued to grow as a result of the many pet owners. These pet owners often treat their pets better than some do their own children. Being a pet owner for many years, and having a wife who has helped me to enjoy this even more has resulted in a better understanding of what pet owners strive for. For those of you who are per owners can recognize that your pets coupled with this level of creative photography and graphic arts is a natural fit. In my travels and research over the past 20 years, I have learned quite a bit about pet owners and how their pet is often an extension of themselves. There is that adage that there a pet and its owner do resemble one another! As with an artist holding a paint brush, these owners look at their pets as the canvas, and leaving nothing overlooked. If you go to a dog show, attention is taken by these owners to ensure that the dog is groomed perfectly, any bows are straight, and even to the point where the dogs happy personality is obvious. Now as you walk into the home of these individuals, I am sure there is a wall of photographs that show little Sophia as a puppy, all the way to the present, and even beyond. Christmas cards, notepaper and anything else that you can think of will have images of these beloved pets.

This desire for creativity by these pet owners has spurred an industry that caters directly to them. The pet lover is a proud group that loves to express their love for their pets. These owners take their pets to the experts for advice on how to train them, expert groomers for that perfect coat and the list goes on. Now another option that expends beyond standard photography provides a second level of creativity. One company that understands this area extremely well is www.PalmieriConcepts.com. Besides the founders being a pet owners for many years, and having a house full of pets, this company has spent years talking with owners and listening to them to understand their needs and wants before it even became a company. Often the owners knew they wanted something different, but was not sure exactly what or how to accomplish it. By listening to them, and understanding what could be done, their needs were met. Some of the non-traditional examples included the idea of having fantasy backgrounds such as a dog floating on a rain bow, to taking a color photograph and making it look like an old black and white.

For the serious owner, most have a special wall in their house or office with pictures and posters of their pets and even similar ones. Often these pictures were done in the traditional style of “point-shoot-develop-print-frame”. The custom graphics companies that specialize in the photography industry have now taken the “develop” stage to the next level with custom image enhancements. These enhancements could be as simple as a picture of your pet overlaid on a family photograph, or even a key element such as the dog tag with their name on it. By combining this level of graphics, a plain photograph is transformed from just a photograph to an expression of personality.

There are many examples of what I have described on line and www.PalmieriConcepts.com in the Pets section has a selection of examples that will give you many ideas that you can incorporate into your own works.

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